Partial denture having pontic with hidden attachment



H. S. FLOREN April 1, 1969 PARTIAL DENTURE HAVING PONTIC WITH HIDDEN ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 13. 1967 INVENTOR.

HOLGER s. FLOREN BY 4 n, $6. W/V. fl iam United States Patent PARTIAL DENTURE HAVING PONTIC WITH HIDDEN ATTACHMENT Holger S. Floren, 1265 NE. 137th Terrace, North Miami, Fla. 33161 Filed Oct. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 675,151 Int. Cl. A61c 13/22 US. Cl. 32-7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention includes a partial denture including at least one pontic having a fixed section afiixed in a restoration denture and a removable section affixed to a palatal or lingual bar fitting removably into the restoration denture. The fixed pontic section has a first attachment embedded therein which is exposed sufficiently to receive another attachment, and the removable pontic section has a second attachment embedded therein which is sufiiciently exposed to engage the first attachment. The two attachments are male and female members which fit matingly to hold the pontic sections together.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Although partial dentures have been constructed in a wide variety of forms, there is often a problem in connecting the partial denture to a seat in a manner so that it will not slip out. The present invention is concerned with a partial denture for a restoration which may include veneer crowns and pontics. The overall purpose of the invention is to provide a definite seat for the partial denture so that the partial will not slip out accidentally, and to provide a partial denture which is simple in design and enables a technician to make his case a practical and attractive restoration. The partial denture is also designed to make it easy for the user to remove the partial denture or put it in the mouth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The partial denture of the invention is designed to fit into a restoration denture and includes one or more separable pontics which have a fixed section anchored in the restoration denture and a removable section afiixed to a palatal or lingual bar so that the bar and removable pontic section can be removed together from the restoration denture. First and second attachments are secured respectively to the first and second sections, and these attachments provide a means for releasably holding the pontic sections together. The two attachments are male and female members, the male members preferably having an I-shape and the female member preferably having a channel shape so that the male member fits securely into the female member but can be removed therefrom by applying appropriate force. A palatal or lingual bar is attached to the removable pontic section, and the entire connecting unit consisting of bar and pontic section may be removed from the restoration denture. More than one separable pontic may be utilized, and the removable pontic sections may be provided with hooks to facilitate removal thereof from the fixed ponti sections.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a partial denture which includes a section providing a definite seat fof a removable portion of the partial denture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pontic for a partial denture which is separable into two sections.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pontic having separable sections having male and female members for releasably holding the two sections together.

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Another object of the invention is to provide a partial denture having at least one pontic composed of separable sections with one section having a channel-shaped female attachment and the other section having an I-shaped male attachment with a crosshead of the male attachment fitting securely within the hollow portion of the channel shaped attachment but removable therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a partial denture having separable pontics with means to facilitate separation thereof.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a restoration denture provided with a removable partial denture having separable pontics in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a separable pontic included in the partial denture of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of a female pontic section which includes a male attachment;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the female pontic section of FIGURE 3 taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a male pontic section having a female attachment; and

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the male pontic section.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, a complete restoration denture 10 is shown which includes a partial denture 12 consisting of a palatal bar 14 of metal or plastic fitting removably within the restoration denture 10. It will be understood that a lingual bar will be used for a lower case. Bar 14 is connected at its right hand end to one pontic 16 and is connected at its left hand end to another pontic 18. In this particular embodiment, pontic 16 is received in a space between veneer crowns 20 and 22, and pontic 18 is received adjacent a bicuspid 24 on the other side of the restoration denture. Palatal bar 14 has a network of strips at 26 which fits on the gum portion of denture 10 and provides retention for receiving a saddle which includes additional artificial teeth (not shown).

Pontic 16 has cusps on its biting surface, but pontic 18 has a fiat surface to which loops 28 are attached to receive and. hold plastic or porcelain material which forms cusps. The specific biting surface and other surface configurations of the pontics 16 and 13 is not a part of the invention.

It may be noted that the upper parts of pontics 16 and 18 are provided with small hooks 30 and 32. A tool may be inserted in these hooks and manipulated by a dentist or other person to facilitate removal of the removable part of the partial denture 12.

It will be understood that pontics 16 and 18 are constructed in the same manner; that is, they each include two sections provided with attachments for holding the pontics together. Accordingly, only pontic 16 is shown in FIGURES 2-6 to illustrate the construction, it being understood that pontic 18 may have the same construction Except perhaps for the biting surface and the seating surace.

Referring to FIGURES 2-6, the pontic 16 is shown in FIGURE 2 with its male and female sections assembled together to form a complete pontic. The pontic sections are made of gold or other suitable material. Female pontic section 34 has the biting surface 36 on the lower side thereof, and has a recess 38 shown particularly in FIG- URE 4. Male pontic section 40 has a projection 42 included therein, and projection 42 fits into recess 38 so that the male and female pontic sections fit matingly with each other. Male pontic section 40 has a raised portion 44 on its top side as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 6 and raised portion 44 may be undercut slightly at 46 so that plastic may be applied to it which will fit the gum. The seating surface of pontic 18 may be pointed like a bullet, if desired. Male pontic section 40 is soldered to veneer crowns 20 and 22 at the areas 76 (FIG. 5). The fixed section of pontic 18 is soldered to bicuspid 24.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4, it may be seen that a male metal attachment 48 is embedded in the female pontic section 34. Attachment 48 has an I-shape when viewed from the end as seen in FIGURE 3 and includes a web portion 50 and two spaced crossheads 52 and 54 on opposite sides of web 50. Crosshead 52 is embedded in the gold material of female pontic section 34, and at least a portion of web 50 and crosshead 54 are exposed at one side of the recess 38 so that crosshead 54 and web 50 may fit into a female attachment of the male pontic section 40. A length of wire 56 is shown attached to crosshead 52, extending through portion 58 of pontic section 34 and having a portion available outside pontic section 34. This wire section 56 may be used to manipulate the female pontic section 34 while it is being fabricated, but before pontic section 34 is soldered to the palatal bar 14, the exterior portion of wire section 56 is removed.

As may be seen in FIGURES 2 and 4 a recess 60 is formed in the side of pontic section 34, and the end of the palatal bar 14 is soldered to this recess 60.

The male pontic section 40 includes a female metal attachment 62 which has a channel-shape as viewed from the end in FIGURE 5. Attachment 62 has a back 64, spaced opposing side portions 66 and 68 extending from back 66 at substantially right angles thereto, and spaced in-turned end portions 70 and 72 extending from side portion 66 and 68 at right angles thereto, all of these portions defining a hollow space 74 in which the crosshead 54 of attachment 48 is received when the two pontic sections are assembled. The web 50 of attachment 48 is received between the in-turned end portions 70 and 72 of attachment 62.

With this construction, it can be seen that the two attachments 48 and 62 hold the male pontic section 40 and female pontic section 34 together, but allow them to separate when the removable part of the partial denture is removed from restoration denture 10. Denture 10 includes veneer crowns 20 and 22 with a pontic section soldered between them, making denture 10 a stationary bridge.

Male pontic section 40 may be provided with small knobs 76 on opposite sides thereof which may be grasped to facilitate assembling and disassembling the pontic before pontic section 40 is soldered to veneer crowns 2i} and 22 and pontic section 34 is attached to palatal bar 14. Before the partial denture is placed in the restoration denture 10, however, the knobs 76 are removed as by grinding them off.

A general procedure for making the partial denture will be described briefly to complete the disclosure. After the dentist has completed his general procedure in preparing the teeth for veneer crowns and impressions are taken, the technician pours his models, and makes and casts his veneer crowns in conventional manner. In the model, a space is provided between the veneer crowns to receive the fixed section of one pontic, and a space adjacent to a bicuspid on the other side of the model is provided to receive the other fixed pontic section. A fe- 4 male attachment 62 is placed in each of the spaces in the model, and the female attachments are adjusted until they are parallel to each other and are seated in a bed of wax or a plastic form designed to receive the attachment. Then the fixed pontic section is invested and cast.

After this is done, the male attachment 48 is put in place. The connecting arm 56 is now bent at about to the attachment and will later be used to remove the waxed-up pattern on the male attachment. After a separation fiuid is painted on the completed fixed cast pontic section, a wax of the removable pontic section is made which may include cusps if desired, or may include a flat surface where retention loops 28 are ultimately put when pontic 18 is being fabricated. The Wax pattern is removed, invested and cast. This casting unit is the removable pontic section which will be soldered to a palatal bar 14 or a lingual bar if it is a lower case. After the complete castings are finished, the removable pontic sections are soldered to the bar 14 and the fixed pontic sections are soldered or otherwise secured to restoration plate 10. The veneers can then be invested and cured. This completes the restoration denture 10.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A partial denture including at least one pontic having a fixed section aifixed in a restoration denture and a removable section afiixed to a bar fitting removably into the restoration denture, said partial denture comprising a first pontic section afiixed substantially permanently to said restoration denture and having a first attachment embedded therein, said first attachment being exposed at one side of said first pontic section to engage another attachment in mating relation, a bar shaped to fit removably in said restoration denture with one end of said bar adjacent said first pontic section, a second pontic section matable with said first pontic section to for-m a pontic, said second pontic section being aflixed to said one end of said bar and having a second attachment embedded therein exposed at one side of said pontic section to en gage said first attachment, one of said attachments comprising a male member and the other of said attachments comprising a female member so that said male and female members fit matingly to hold s-aid pontic sections together.

2. The partial denture as claimed in claim 1 in which said male member includes a web having a crosshead thereon, and said female member is channel shaped and includes a back, spaced opposing side portions extending from said back at substantially right angles thereto, and spaced in-turned end portions extending from said side portions at substantially right angles thereto all defining a hollow space for receiving said crosshead of said male member with said web received between said in-turned end portions.

3. The partial denture as claimed in claim 2 in which said male member further includes a second crosshead on said web in spaced parallel relation with said first-named crosshead so that said male member has an I-shape.

4. The partial denture as claimed in claim 3 in which one of said pontic sections has a recess therein and the other of said pontic sections has a projection fitting said recess so that said pontic sections fit matingly to form a complete pontic.

5. The partial denture as claimed in claim 4 in which said one pontic section having said recess therein has said second crosshead of said male member embedded therein adjacent said recess with said first-named crosshead and at least a portion of said web exposed in said recess, and said other pontic section having said projection has said female member embedded therein at one side of said projection wtih said hollow space available to receive said first-named crosshead.

6. The partial denture as claimed in claim 1 in which said bar is a palatal bar.

7. The partial denture as claimed in claim 1 in which said second pontic section has a hook afiixed thereto in which a tool may be inserted to remove said second pontic section from said first pontic section.

8. The partial denture as claimed in claim 1 and including another pontic comprising a third pontic section aflixed substantially permanently to said restoration denture at a portion thereof on an opposite side of said restoration denture from the portion receiving said first pontic section, said third pontic section also having a third attachment embedded therein and exposed at one side of said third pontic section to receive a further attachment in mating relation, and a fourth pontic section m-atable with said third pontic section to form a pontic, said fourth pontic section being aflixed to an end of said bar opposite said one end and having a fourth attachment embedded therein and exposed at one side of said fourth pontic section to engage said third attachment, one of said third and fourth attachments comprising a male member and the other of said third and fourth attachments comprising a female member so that said latter male and female members fit matingly together to hold said third and fourth pontic sections together.

and third pontic sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,449,079 3/ 1923 Yirikian 32-5 2,600,496 6/1952 Hall 32-2 2,609,605 9/ 1952 Dillon 325 3,309,771 3/1967 Floren 327 20 ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary Examiner. 

